Sherry Cola Is Not Your Model Minority

The simple fact that Sherry Cola is a stand-up comedian and an actress is radical enough. The stereotype goes something like this: good Asian kids grow up to be good Asian lawyers or doctors. Their parents are proud (but would never actually express that pride) and everyone lives happily ever after, with Mulan and The Joy Luck Club on a loop in the background. Cola (full name: Sherriña Colada), with her role in the upcoming Joy Ride — out in theaters July 7 – alongside Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, and fellow comic Sabrina Wu, knows she's exactly what Asian parents don't want their kids to be. And, filial piety be damned, she's happy to be blazing a trail far, far away from the idea of being that kind of “perfect Asian American.”

"It's so extremely rare to see these imperfect, raunchy Asian faces in this way, and the cultural specifics are just a plus. I think it's just so unapologetic and it's about time," Cola says of how her latest role contrasts with her previous work — and the Asian characters that moviegoers may be more used to. "It means the world to be able to portray something, someone who's so liberated in who she is and gives no damns."

Cola isn't a stranger to your TV screen, with a role in Freeform's Good Trouble, a stint on Claws, and her small-screen debut on Prime Video's cult classic I Love Dick. And if her voice is familiar, it's because she's lent that signature rasp to Disney's Turning Red, and will do it again alongside Michelle Yeoh in Paramount's upcoming The Tiger's Apprentice. But Joy Ride takes Cola's stardom to a whole new level. For one, she's got top billing alongside Park, putting her at the forefront of a raunchy, R-rated comedy with four Asian actors. And like Cola IRL, the lead characters are far from picture-perfect Asians, but each in their own way. Cola plays Lolo, whose parents run a Chinese restaurant in Washington state. She befriends Park's Audrey because they're literally the only Asian kids in their small town. And while Audrey manages to land a job as a lawyer, Lolo is slightly more free-spirited, with aspirations to be an artist that subverts traditional Asian motifs, like Lucky Cats. As a foil to Park's practically perfect character, it's not hard to see Cola infusing her role with a bit of real life. Born in Shanghai and raised in Temple City, deep in Los Angeles's San Gabriel Valley (shoutout to the 626), Cola's parents also ran a Chinese restaurant, and she pursued comedy through classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade after being in college for seven years. It's just another example of model minority erasure, except Cola isn't afraid to bring it up.

"I literally spent seven years in college because I just was not studious. I was partying. I had other distractions, so I definitely relate to Lolo," Cola explains. "I think her character is just so messy and chaotic, and she doesn't have direction per se, but she has passion."

Another detail of real-life Sherry that managed to bleed into the character of Lolo? Her queer identity. Cola is bisexual and, although it's not explicitly shown in the film, she insists that she played Lolo as a queer person — and played it hard. 

"I think Lolo is bisexual for sure, because of her shoutout to the juicy peen and vagine. I'm queer, and I feel like all of these identities, being a queer, Chinese-American immigrant woman, these are qualities that society never rooted for, but I'm now embracing as superpowers," Cola notes. "I also fully am not your model minority and Lolo definitely isn't. So this version of me, I feel like, is one of the most genuine, authentic versions of me that I've ever portrayed on the screen."

The addition of sexual identity offers another layer that puts Joy Ride at the forefront of representation on multiple levels — and Cola knows that, hoping it'll shift the narrative as comedy evolves and starts to embrace more of what society is really like. That means that cis white men don't necessarily get to lead raunchy comedies and that everyone is allowed to be funny, flawed, and say "fuck."

"I think there's a lot of hints at queerness in this film, and I think it'll really change the game for big comedies, for comedies with Asian faces at the front," she says. "We talk about the fact that we've just never seen this ever because it's R-rated. That's why it's the first of its kind, because we've never seen it in this way. The last film to be theatrical and have faces like us in the forefront was Joy Luck Club. We're talking Ashley, Stephanie, Sherry, and Sabrina, who's non-binary."

Cola is hopeful that Joy Ride expands the definition of a comedy, but going even further than that, she hopes audiences realize that the entire cast knew they were making something special from the very beginning. There will undoubtedly be comparisons to the precedent set by the success of Crazy Rich Asians and and also the aforementioned Joy Luck Club. ("Adele Lim [co-screenwriter of Crazy Rich Asians] hits me up and basically tells me there's this film, a script called Joy Fuck Club, working title. I'm like, 'Oh, my god. You're Adele Lim. Yeah, I'll read anything," Cola says of her first impressions of Joy Ride.) But she also wants everyone to know that none of that weighed on her or the cast because they were having fun together between all the improv, the dance rehearsals, and exploring everything Vancouver had to offer. (Spoiler: that's where much of Joy Ride was filmed, not suburban Washington.)

"My heart is so incredibly full, because one of the biggest takeaways, even though there are hundreds of takeaways because this movie has changed my life, is the bond between me, Ashley, Stephanie, and Sabrina," Cola says before reminding everyone that it's been a while since this kind of comedy has been made — Asian leads or not. "It was just so special going into this together and diving into new territory. I don't know if even the public realizes that this has never been done. For the lack of better comparison, movies like The Hangover, Bridesmaids, Girls Trip, these big box office hits that get groups of friends out to the theaters, that kind of comedy we haven't seen in a while, let alone with these faces. It just has never existed. It's such a breath of fresh air, so I'm just so proud."

Joy Ride is just the beginning of a busy year for Cola, who is also starring in Randall Park's directorial debut, Shortcomings, out in theaters Aug. 4. Working with Park, who also spearheaded Asian representation when he starred in ABC's Fresh Off the Boat, was something Cola also never thought would work out, making the year full of unexpected success for her. It's also an opportunity for audiences to see that beyond the stand-up and zingers, Cola has depth and is willing to get vulnerable to tell the stories she's passionate about, whether they're about K-pop cosplay or a not-so-straightforward slice-of-life dramedy about the manager of an art-house theater.

"Shortcomings was also a dream come true, because Randall Park is someone I've admired for years and years and years," she says. "I used to watch him on MTV's Wild 'N Out, because something we have in common is the funny-rap universe. The fact that I got to work with Adele Lim on her directorial debut and also Randall Park on his directorial debut on these two films could not be more different. With Joy Ride, I mean, just raunchiness. There are drugs on a train. There are blue wigs. You know what I mean? Shortcomings cannot be more simple. There cannot be less going on in Shortcomings because it's really just about being human."

Both Joy Ride and Shortcomings offer a chance for Cola to flex her acting chops and for viewers to see that, just like everyone else, Asian characters can run the gamut from seemingly flawless to absolutely reprehensible. That's just reality and, Cola says, it's what should be shown so that everyone gets a chance to cringe and celebrate alike. 

"I want to do more projects that have intention and make an impact in this way because we are so multi-dimensional. These Asian faces cannot be put in a box, and I think that's what's happening right now in real time," she says. "We're shifting the narrative, and we are redefining ourselves in a way that feels authentic. We're just shattering these stereotypes and reclaiming our identities because this is our voice, and we're going to choose how to use it."

Photographer: Natt Lim. Makeup Artist: Tammy Yi. Hair Stylist: Steven Mason. Stylist: Laura Schuffman.